For more information about me and my tours and to manage your subscription go to http://www.geognyc.com/?page_id=489 Subscribe your friends or your other email addresses or unsubscribe yourself. To link to my website use www.GeogNYC.com

Contact me personally with your ideas for custom tours designed for academic, professional, and social groups or family reunions.

Schedule:

The Ecology of Penn Station Saturday, January 31, 2015 11am-1pm

Constructed in a once squalid area of the city known as the “Tenderloin”, Penn Station united rails and tunnels from Long Island, New Jersey and points south that previously terminated on the other side of the East River or the Hudson. We’ll walk through the remnants of the neighborhood’s past and discuss its proposed future. Includes navigating through transportation connectivity inside the station, visiting the Farley Post Office building (planned as the new Amtrak station), the historic Hotel Pennsylvania, Herald and Greeley Squares and “Koreatown.” >Sponsored by MAS.Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Keeping off the Streets: Time Warner to Times Square Saturday, February 28, 2015 11am-1pm

In the “post-modernist era”, NYC planning principles encouraged innovative new public spaces to be maintained by private entities. These new spaces typically offer shelter and shortcuts and add to the connections already provided by transit, stores, and hotels. We’ll beat winter by connecting public atriums, passageways, building lobbies, and walkways that reveal a more intimate side of Midtown. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Saturday, March 21 @ 2PM: What’s New (and Old) in Long Island City? Part 1

Long Island City, chartered in 1870, experienced its first renaissance a century ago when industrial and transportation innovation created NYC’s foremost manufacturing district. It is now experiencing its second renaissance as rezoning and proximity to Manhattan spur a transformation of land use and demography. Part 1 explores the oldest part of Long Island City from Court Square to the East River shore. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Saturday, March 28 @ 11AM: Korean Flushing

Koreans are the premiere small businessmen and church builders of contemporary immigration. Their center of gravity has migrated away from Central Flushing and is now sprawling east along Northern Blvd and to “Korean Villages” at LIRR stations. See surprising shops and churches. Eats include “BBQ“ and “KFC.” This will be a “one-way” tour with options to join in a meal, explore on your own and return by bus/subway or LIRR. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register

“Sunday in the Park with Jack”Sunday, March 29, 11am-1pm

This traverse of Flushing Meadow-Corona Park from Flushing to Corona honors of the 75th and 50th anniversaries of the World’s Fairs that extended into 1940 and 1965. The walk will focus on the history of FMCP as well as sites associated with the fairs. We meet at the entrance to the Queens Botanical Garden (on Main St., 8 blocks south of the #7 subway station) and ends in Corona. It is a fund raiser for the Queens Historical Society. Fees are $15/20 member/nonmember of QHS collected on site. Participants are asked to register with me to avoid overcrowding. Email me at jaconet@aol.com

Saturday, April 11 @ 11AM: Woodside Avenue Woodside Ave, with Newtown Rd in Astoria, forms the link between the (defunct) Astoria ferry and the center of Elmhurst (originally Newtown Center). It traverses a 19th century cityscape near the LIRR and spans Roosevelt Avenue’s diversity. It includes a cluster of old Irish pubs, remnants of Queens’ former Irish concentration, and ends in the Asian neighborhood consolidating in Elmhurst. Expect a few diversions to unusual houses of worship and an old farmhouse. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Saturday, April 25 @ 11AM: Conforming to the Grid, Part 1

This walk concerns the geography of Manhattan’s 1811 grid plan, (The Commissioners’ Plan), highlighting how First-Ninth Avenues and First-Fourteenth Streets meshed with colonial era street patterns and vice-versa. In Part 1, First Avenue to Fifth Avenue, we explores the East Village, particularly the Bowery, Cooper Square, Astor Place, Stuyvesant Place, Broadway, and Washington Square. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Saturday, May 30 @ 11AM: What’s New (and Old) in Long Island City? Part 2

Long Island City, chartered in 1870, experienced its first renaissance a century ago when industrial and transportation innovation created NYC’s foremost manufacturing district. It is now experiencing its second renaissance as rezoning and proximity to Manhattan spur a transformation of land use and demography. Part 2 explores the Dutch Kills and Queens Plaza area where transportation advantages have attracted corporate headquarters, municipal offices, hotels and condos. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Sunday, May 31 @ 11AM: Conforming to the Grid, Part 2

This walk concerns the geography of Manhattan’s 1811 grid plan, (The Commissioners’ Plan), highlighting how First-Ninth Avenues and First-Fourteenth Streets meshed with colonial era street patterns and vice-versa. In Part 2, Fifth Avenue to Ninth Avenue, we explores the Central and West Villages, particularly Washington, Father Demo, Sheridan, Abingdon, and Jackson Squares. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

]]>http://www.geognyc.com/?feed=rss2&p=6070Happy holidays. See you early in 2015!http://www.geognyc.com/?p=597
http://www.geognyc.com/?p=597#commentsTue, 23 Dec 2014 19:30:39 +0000http://www.geognyc.com/?p=597Notes:

Tour “Willets Point” on 1/11/15 before it’s unrecognizable.

Happy New Year to all my fellow walkers. In 2015 I will schedule two new “Life Along a Subway Line” tours: The L train and a revised #7 train.

For more information about me and my tours and to manage your subscription go to http://www.geognyc.com/?page_id=489 Subscribe your friends or your other email addresses or unsubscribe yourself. To link to my website use www.GeogNYC.com

Contact me personally with your ideas for custom tours designed for academic, professional, and social groups or family reunions. 718-961-8406

Schedule:

“Willet’s Point” Walk with Jack Eichenbaum, Queens Borough Historian

Sunday, January 11, 2015 12:30pm – 2pm

In conjunction with Reviewing Renewal, a 5-week Queens Museum exhibit and panorama intervention sponsored by 596acres.org/en/events/768/ a walking tour of the Willets Point Urban Renewal area will start from and return to the Queens Museum.

East of Citifield (the New York Mets baseball stadium) is a sewerless hardscrabble area of auto junkyards and related businesses that has twice beaten back attempts at redevelopment. But as it is located between the new stadium and a booming Chinatown in Flushing, public and private interests are again trying to transform “Willets Point.” We’ll confront ecological issues and learn why “Willets Point” is a misnomer.

Keeping off the Streets: Grand Central to Bloomingdales Saturday, January 24, 2015 11am-1pm

In the “post-modernist era”, NYC planning principles encouraged innovative new public spaces to be maintained by private entities. These new spaces typically offer shelter and shortcuts and add to the connections already provided by transit, stores, and hotels. We’ll beat winter by connecting public atriums, passageways, building lobbies, and walkways that reveal a more intimate side of Midtown.>Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

The Ecology of Penn Station Saturday, January 31, 2015 11am-1pm

Constructed in a once squalid area of the city known as the “Tenderloin”, Penn Station united rails and tunnels from Long Island, New Jersey and points south that previously terminated on the other side of the East River or the Hudson. We’ll walk through the remnants of the neighborhood’s past and discuss its proposed future. Includes navigating through transportation connectivity inside the station, visiting the Farley Post Office building (planned as the new Amtrak station), the historic Hotel Pennsylvania, Herald and Greeley Squares and “Koreatown.” >Sponsored by MAS.Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Keeping off the Streets: Time Warner to Times Square Saturday, February 28, 2015 11am-1pm

In the “post-modernist era”, NYC planning principles encouraged innovative new public spaces to be maintained by private entities. These new spaces typically offer shelter and shortcuts and add to the connections already provided by transit, stores, and hotels. We’ll beat winter by connecting public atriums, passageways, building lobbies, and walkways that reveal a more intimate side of Midtown. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

]]>http://www.geognyc.com/?feed=rss2&p=5970Dim Sum prior to Flushing Chinatown tour 12/7http://www.geognyc.com/?p=593
http://www.geognyc.com/?p=593#commentsWed, 03 Dec 2014 16:08:58 +0000http://www.geognyc.com/?p=593As added incentive to attend this tour, please join me for dim sum (split the bill among participants) prior to the tour at 9:45 when there is no wait. If you are coming from Manhattan there is an LIRR train to Flushing departing 9:18 and arriving 9:38. Cost only $4 using City Ticket option. If interested email me for details jaconet@aol.com Tour details on website.

The tour will have a new focus and new route compared to previous versions.I was born in Flushing and while I grew up in Bayside, my father worked in downtown Flushing for 30 years and my family came here to shop, go to the movies and enter the subway system. In the last 40 years a “Chinatown” has swept awaymuch of my childhood Flushing. This immigrant destination and commercial center has come to rival its Manhattan antecedent. Taiwanese rather than Cantonese at its core, Flushing’s Chinatown plays host to a variety of overseas Chinese groups. Rezoning and greater land availability support unusual real estate developments including office buildings, hotels, residential condos, specialty shops, cultural institutions, and malls. Dine in more than 100 Asian restaurants. Restaurant recommendations provided.Meeting point will be on the secondfloor of the New World Mall opposite restrooms. Enter mall on the south side of Roosevelt Ave. just uphill from the Main St. station of the #7

For more information about me and my tours and to manage your subscription go to http://www.geognyc.com/?page_id=489 Subscribe your friends or your other email addresses or unsubscribe yourself. To link to my website use www.GeogNYC.com

Contact me personally with your ideas for custom tours designed for academic, professional, and social groups or family reunions. 718-961-8406

The “cold weather” tours scheduled for January and February are all partially indoors.

SCHEDULE

“Willets Point” Saturday, November 8, 2014 11 am-1 pm East of Citifield (the New York Mets baseball stadium) is a sewerless hardscrabble area of auto junkyards and related businesses that has twice beaten back attempts at redevelopment. But as it is located between the new stadium and a booming Chinatown in Flushing, public and private interests are again trying to transform “Willets Point” and build a shopping mall to the west of the stadium. We’ll walk to the area from central Flushing to understand its important setting, confront political, economic and ecological issues and learn why “Willets Point” is a misnomer. Sponsored as a fund raiser jointly by the City Club (CC) and the Queens Historical Society (QHS) Fees are $20/$15 for members of CC or QHS. Proceeds collected on site and split between CC and QHS. Potential attendees are asked to register with Jack Eichenbaum (jaconet@aol.com) to limit tour to 35 participants. A waiting list will be kept should registration exceed that number.Meeting point will be on the 2nd floor of the New World Mall in central Flushing opposite restrooms. Enter on south side of Roosevelt Ave uphill from Main St. (#7)

Astoria Saturday, November 15, 2014 11am-1pm

This demographically changing neighborhood is opposite Manhattan‘s Upper East Side. Italians and Greeks are being replaced by Arabs, Bosnians, Brazilians, Mexicans, and yuppies. We’ll explore Astoria from its important transportation arteries: Steinway St (a former trolley route), 31 St (under the elevated train), the Grand Central Parkway which bisected the neighborhood 70 years ago, and 30th Avenue, its café-lined promenade. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Flushing’s Chinatown Sunday, December 7. 2014 11am-1pm

This immigrant destination and commercial center has come to rival its Manhattan antecedent. Taiwanese rather than Cantonese at its core, Flushing’s Chinatown plays host to a variety of overseas Chinese groups. Rezoning and greater land availability support unusual real estate developments including office buildings, hotels, residential condos, specialty shops, cultural institutions, and malls. Dine in more than 100 Asian restaurants. Restaurant recommendations provided. No registration necessary. Just show up in time! Fee: $15

Keeping off the Streets, Grand Central to Bloomingdales Saturday, January 24, 2015 11am-1pm

In the “post-modernist era”, NYC planning principles encouraged innovative new public spaces to be maintained by private entities. These new spaces typically offer shelter and shortcuts and add to the connections already provided by transit, stores, and hotels. We’ll beat winter by connecting public atriums, passageways, building lobbies, and walkways that reveal a more intimate side of Midtown.>Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

The Ecology of Penn Station Saturday, January 31, 2015 11am-1pm

Constructed in a once squalid area of the city known as the “Tenderloin”, Penn Station united rails and tunnels from Long Island, New Jersey and points south that previously terminated on the other side of the East River or the Hudson. We’ll walk through the remnants of the neighborhood’s past and discuss its proposed future. Includes navigating through transportation connectivity inside the station, visiting the Farley Post Office building (planned as the new Amtrak station), the historic Hotel Pennsylvania, Herald and Greeley Squares and “Koreatown.” >Sponsored by MAS.Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Keeping off the Streets, Time Warner to Times Square Saturday, February 28, 2015 11am-1pm

In the “post-modernist era”, NYC planning principles encouraged innovative new public spaces to be maintained by private entities. These new spaces typically offer shelter and shortcuts and add to the connections already provided by transit, stores, and hotels. We’ll beat winter by connecting public atriums, passageways, building lobbies, and walkways that reveal a more intimate side of Midtown. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

]]>http://www.geognyc.com/?feed=rss2&p=5580The Geography of NYChttp://www.geognyc.com/?p=553
http://www.geognyc.com/?p=553#commentsSat, 04 Oct 2014 17:10:45 +0000http://www.geognyc.com/?p=553NYC is experiencing rapid growth and evolution. A new administration, climate change, demographic change and economic vicissitudes impel us to embark on a reconnaissance of major plans. One such plan is for “Willets Point.” Most of you have heard about this area but have never been there. Here is your chance to learn about the area together with other interested participants.

“Willets Point” Saturday, November 8, 2014 11am-1pmEast of Citifield (the New York Mets baseball stadium) is a sewerless hardscrabble area of auto junkyards and related businesses that has twice beaten back attempts at redevelopment. But as it is located between the new stadium and a booming Chinatown in Flushing, public and private interests are again trying to transform “Willets Point” and build a shopping mall to the west of the stadium. In fact, work has already begun! We’ll walk to the area from central Flushing to understand its important setting, confront political, economic and ecological issues and learn why “Willets Point” is a misnomer. Questions and comments will be entertained. Sponsored as a fund raiser jointly by the City Club (CC) and the Queens Historical Society (QHS) Fees are $20/$15 for members of CC or QHS. Proceeds collected on site and split between CC and QHS. Potential attendees are asked to register with Jack Eichenbaum (jaconet@aol.com) to limit tour to 35 participants. A waiting list will be kept should registration exceed that number. (Possibly the tour will be repeated.)Meeting point will be on the 2ndfloor of the New World Mall opposite restrooms. Enter mall on the south side of Roosevelt Ave. just uphill from the Main St. station of the #7 train.

Click on Current Schedule to see other tours offered this fall.

]]>http://www.geognyc.com/?feed=rss2&p=5530World of the Number 7 Train 9/20 Still open!http://www.geognyc.com/?p=546
http://www.geognyc.com/?p=546#commentsFri, 05 Sep 2014 20:57:29 +0000http://www.geognyc.com/?p=546THE WORLD OF THE #7 TRAIN SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 10am-5:30pm

This series of six walks and connecting rides along North Queens’ transportation corridor is my signature tour.We focus on what the #7 train has done to and for surrounding neighborhoods since it began service in 1914. Walks take place in Long Island City, Sunnyside, Flushing, Corona, Woodside and Jackson Heights and lunch is in Flushing with a great variety of Asian restaurants. Tour fee is $40 and you need to preregister by check to Jack Eichenbaum, 36-20 Bowne St. #6C, Flushing, NY 11354 (include name, phone and email address) The full day’s program and other info is available by email jaconet@aol.com The tour is limited to 25 people.

1. For more information about me and my tours and to manage your subscription go to http://www.geognyc.com/?page_id=489 Subscribe your friends or your other email addresses or unsubscribe yourself. To link to my website use www.GeogNYC.com

2. Contact me personally with your ideas for custom tours designed for academic, professional, and social groups or family reunions. 718-961-8406

3. On September 20, 2014, I will again offer my “World of the Number 7 Train” tour. (See below) This is my signature tour! Don’t wait too long to sign up. It sells out.

SCHEDULE

My Childhood in Bayside (vs. What’s There Now) Saturday, September 13 11 am-1pmI am leading a walk through old Bayside where I lived from 1943-1958. Most of the personal landmarks of my early life have vanished but there are threads of continuity and many anecdotes. Several sites have been designated as NYC landmarks: All Saints Episcopal Church, the Lawrence family graveyard and the Cobblestone house. When silent films were made in Queens, Bayside was home to many stars. Many brunch possibilities are in the area. Logistics for the tour link to the arrival of a reduced weekend fare LIRR train (leaves Penn Station at 10:18am with stops in Woodside and Flushing) arriving in Bayside at 10:47 >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

THE WORLD OF THE #7 TRAIN SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 10am-5:30pm

This series of six walks and connecting rides along North Queens’ transportation corridor is my signature tour.We focus on what the #7 train has done to and for surrounding neighborhoods since it began service in 1914. Walks take place in Long Island City, Sunnyside, Flushing, Corona, Woodside and Jackson Heights and lunch is in Flushing with a great variety of Asian restaurants. Tour fee is $40 and you need to preregister by check to Jack Eichenbaum, 36-20 Bowne St. #6C, Flushing, NY 11354 (include name, phone and email address) The full day’s program and other info is available by email jaconet@aol.com The tour is limited to 25 people.

Forest Hills to Corona Saturday, October 18, 2-4pm

Dominicans, Ecuadorians and Mexicans compete for commercial space in Corona! South Americans surround the venerable Little Italy in Corona Heights! Bukharan Jews succeed Russian Jews in Rego Park! Topography stratifies social class! This walk is high in fine-grained diversity. How did it all happen? > Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

“Willets Point” Saturday, November 8, 2014 11 am-1 pm
East of Citifield (the New York Mets baseball stadium) is a sewerless hardscrabble area of auto junkyards and related businesses that has twice beaten back attempts at redevelopment. But as it is located between the new stadium and a booming Chinatown in Flushing, public and private interests are again trying to transform “Willets Point” and build a shopping mall to the west of the stadium. We’ll walk to the area from central Flushing to understand its important setting, confront political, economic and ecological issues and learn why “Willets Point” is a misnomer. Sponsored as a fund raiser jointly by the City Club (CC) and the Queens Historical Society (QHS) Fees are $20/$15 for members of CC or QHS. Proceeds collected on site and split between CC and QHS. Potential attendees are asked to preregister with Jack Eichenbaum (jaconet@aol.com) to limit tour to 35 participants. A waiting list will be kept should preregistration exceed that number.Meeting point will be on the 2nd floor of the New World Mall opposite restrooms. Enter on south side of Roosevelt Ave uphill from Main St.

Astoria Saturday, November 15, 11am-1pm

This demographically changing neighborhood is opposite Manhattan‘s Upper East Side. Italians and Greeks are being replaced by Arabs, Bosnians, Brazilians, Mexicans, and yuppies. We’ll explore Astoria from its important transportation arteries: Steinway St (a former trolley route), 31 St (under the elevated train), the Grand Central Parkway which bisected the neighborhood 70 years ago, and 30th Avenue, its café-lined p romenade. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

1. For more information about me and my tours and to manage your subscription go to http://www.geognyc.com/?page_id=489 Subscribe your friends or your other email addresses or unsubscribe yourself. To link to my website use www.GeogNYC.com

2. Contact me personally with your ideas for custom tours designed for academic, professional, and social groups or family reunions. 718-961-8406

3. Chinese food lovers- please note the special Three Chinatowns tour on June 29. It will be possible to eat in each neighborhood!

4. In June I offer midweek evening walks on Wednesday evenings from 6-8 pm (still daylight) that end in food-rich neighborhoods. Fees for these tours are all $15 and no registration is required. Just show up in time!

5. The fall tours (Sept/Oct/Nov) have been scheduled with MAS but will not appear on their calendar for a few weeks.

SCHEDULE

What’s New in Long Island City? Wednesday, June 18 6-8pm

We’ll walk from Queens Plaza to the East River waterfront.Rezoning and demographic change stemming from Manhattan spillover spark revitalization in this once stagnant industrial neighborhood. A lively arts community and restaurant scene has developed. The Plaza, where transit lines intersect, has been rezoned for hotels, condos and offices. Gantry Park, on the East River, is the perfect place to view the midtown Manhattan skyline at sunset. Restaurants abound on nearby Vernon Blvd. >Meet at the fare booth on the lowest level of the Queensboro Plaza station (N,Q,7) Fee $15

Flushing’s Chinatown Wednesday, June 25 6-8pm

This immigrant destination and commercial center has come to rival its Manhattan antecedent. Taiwanese rather than Cantonese at its core, Flushing’s Chinatown plays host to a variety of overseas Chinese groups. Rezoning and greater land availability support unusual real estate developments including office buildings, hotels, residential condos, specialty shops, cultural institutions, and malls. Dine in more than 100 Asian restaurants >Meet near restrooms on second floor of New World

Mall. (Enter on Roosevelt Ave between Duane Reade and Macy’s; uphill from Main St. (#7.) Fee $15

Since the 1965 change in immigration laws, the Chinatown in Sunset Park, Brooklyn and the Chinatown in Flushing, Queens have developed in different ways and with different demographics than Manhattan’s Chinatown. Tour leaders Joe Svehlak and Jack Eichenbaum, natives of Sunset Park, Brooklyn and Flushing, Queens respectively, will lead this tour in three parts, focusing on the transformation of these neighborhoods. Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership, will lead a portion of the walk and a discussion of contemporary issues in Manhattan’s Chinatown. The day will begin with an optional dim sum meal in Flushing, Queens at 9:30 AM. Please note that the cost of dim sum breakfast is not included. The tour will begin at 10:45 AM. Cost includes transportation from Flushing to Manhattan to Sunset Park by Chinatown van and or subway and a light lunch. The tour will conclude near 43 St, and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn. . Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register. Fee $60/$65 members/nonmembers.

Meet in Greenpoint (G train- before it closes for months), meander through Greenpoint and cross the Pulaski Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Long Island City. See remnants of the intense and largely unregulated industrial development that thrived along Newtown Creek during the late nineteenth century before the consolidation of Greater NYC and infrastructure improvements rendered it obsolete. See elegant 19th century Greenpoint highlights and East River shoreline redevelopment ending at splendid shoreline views in Gantry Park, Hunter’s Point, LIC. Nearby Vernon Blvd. offers a variety of new restaurants. Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

More Space and New Arrangements in Western Queens Sunday, August 3 10 am-Noon

During the first third of the 20th century, Western Queens nurtured developments where traditional open space/building area relationships were altered to create new urban architecture. The Sunnyside Gardens and the Jackson Heights Historic Districts anchor the route which also includes Phipps Gardens, Matthews Flats, Metropolitan Life apartments, and early truck-oriented industrial buildings. Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

I am leading a walk through old Bayside where I lived from 1943-1958. Most of the personal landmarks of my early life have vanished but there are threads of continuity and many anecdotes. Several sites have been designated as NYC landmarks: All Saints Episcopal Church, the Lawrence family graveyard and the Cobblestone house. When silent films were made in Queens, Bayside was home to many stars. Many brunch possibilities are in the area. Logistics for the tour link to the arrival of a reduced weekend fare LIRR train (leaves Penn Station at 10:18am with stops in Woodside and Flushing) arriving in Bayside at 10:47 >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Forest Hills to Corona Saturday, October 18, 2-4pm

Dominicans, Ecuadorians and Mexicans compete for commercial space in Corona! South Americans surround the venerable Little Italy in Corona Heights! Bukharan Jews succeed Russian Jews in Rego Park! Topography stratifies social class! This walk is high in fine-grained diversity. How did it all happen? > Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.

Astoria Saturday, November 15, 11am-1pm

This demographically changing neighborhood is opposite Manhattan‘s Upper East Side. Italians and Greeks are being replaced by Arabs, Bosnians, Brazilians, Mexicans, and yuppies. We’ll explore Astoria from its important transportation arteries: Steinway St (a former trolley route), 31 St (under the elevated train), the Grand Central Parkway which bisected the neighborhood 70 years ago, and 30th Avenue, its café-lined promenade. >Sponsored by MAS. Go to http://mas.org/tours/ to register.